New Va. program gives rides, gas to mil. workers, contractors

WASHINGTON — Following an uproar in Northern Virginia over BRAC changes that jam commuter arteries, a regional commission has a solution they believe will at least quicken the trip for military staff.

Military workers and contractors will be paid to commute together, the Washington Examiner reports, as a part of a new carpooling system managed by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. The program will use a smartphone app to help participants find rides to Fort Belvoir, the Mark Center or the Marine Corps Base Quantico, and provide $25 per month in gas as a reward.

The riders get five trips for free, then would have to pay drivers $1 per trip and 20 cents per mile using an automated system, the Examiner reports.

The program resembles slugging — the popular area practice of picking up passengers at designated commuter spots so drivers can use high-occupancy lanes.

“We help to create a virtual slug line,” Jason Conley, director of government relations for Avego, the company that created the ride sharing app, tells the Examiner. “The idea is you’re giving an incentive to drivers to pick up someone you may not know.”